National award for Dunstable woman who turned her life around

A Dunstable woman who has been recognised by a national charity for her ‘enormous’ willpower and determination to improve her life.

Alice was handed the award at the Inspired by Possibility event hosted by Turning Point, whose Bedfordshire learning disability service supported her.

Before coming to Turning Point in December 2021, Alice would isolate herself from the world and from support as she faced a number of difficulties, including addiction, peer pressure, poor mental health and accumulated debt – all of which were hindering her progress and wellbeing.

But over the past year, she’s managed to overcome them all and with support staff saying she had grown into a “new and better version” of herself.

Staff added: “You were born in a male body but identify as female; choosing a new name and working hard to tackle the problems in your life means you can now represent yourself how you choose to.

“Your confidence and trust have grown as you’ve built personal and professional relationships with those around you, and you’ve learned a number of valuable life skills and started to feel in control of your life.

“You are a living testament to what can be achieved if we just put our mind to it.”

On receiving the award, Alice admitted it was “hard to find words” to describe how she was feeling.

She added: “No matter how bad things seem to be, and how dark times can get, there's always a glimmer of light and hope. I want everyone to just remember that, no matter how bad things are, you can always improve and you are able get things done.”

Sixteen people shared their uplifting stories of recovery as they collected awards at the annual event hosted by Turning Point – one of the UK’s leading health and social care providers – in Birmingham on Wednesday, April 26.

Turning Point CEO, Julie Bass, said: “We know how much this recognition can mean to the people we support and how important it is to celebrate the remarkable things they do, particularly when they are faced with a number of challenges and difficulties.

“We support over 165,000 people every year, so to be picked out from such a large population of people is an astonishing achievement.”